Editorial

We here at Lost Treasure hope you and yours had a fun and successful treasure-hunting holiday weekend and are back at your usual schedules safe and sound.

We will kick things off in this newsletter with a nice feature in the Good Hunting! section about the wonderful things being done for the Texas Lions' Camp for Handicapped Children by the Texas Council of Treasure Clubs and many others. Check out the great pictures!

For all you fans of our annual Treasure Cache/Treasure Facts, we are now taking advance orders for the 2011 edition, which will be hitting the streets in December. Head over to the Treasure Store at www.losttreasure.com to place your order today.

We don’t have a Feature Club for this issue, so you can help us by putting on your thinking caps to see if you know of a treasure-hunting related club that hasn’t been spotlighted. If so, send me the information at managingeditor@losttreasure.com

In the Favorite Finds section you can see and read about the unusual find made by Nathan Torrey of Mountain Home, Idaho. Be an inspiration to other treasure hunters out there. E-mail us pictures and information on some of your Favorite Finds!

Norm Stiles provides this issue’s Tip From the Pros, and be sure to read some very important information from Keith Wills regarding the “Definition of Significant” as it relates to treasure laws in the Letters to the Editor section.

The 2010 Calendar has the latest information on treasure-hunting events taking place all over the United States, so be sure to check it out.

The latest in THers’ News, includes:

• Lake Michigan Shipwreck Found After 112 Years
• ND Site Might be Historic Find
• Crew Searches for Signs of Relics at Old Mining Town
• Precious Gems and Relics Unearthed by Frazee Treasure Hunter

Until next time, just keep searching, just keep searching,

TH'ers' News

Lake Michigan Shipwreck Found After 112 Years
MILWAUKEE – A great wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago in a violent Lake Michigan storm has been found off the Milwaukee-area shoreline, and divers say the intact vessel appears to have been perfectly preserved by the cold fresh waters.
Finding the 300-foot-long L.R. Doty was important because it was the largest wooden ship that remained unaccounted for, said Brendon Baillod, the president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association.
"It's the biggest one I've been involved with," said Baillod, who has taken part in about a dozen such finds. "It was really exhilarating."
The Doty was carrying a cargo of corn from South Chicago to Ontario, Canada in October 1898 when it sailed into a terrible storm, Baillod said. Along with snow and sleet, there were heavy winds that whipped up waves of up to 30 feet.
The Doty should have been able to handle the weather. The ship was only five years old, and the 300-foot wooden behemoth's hull was reinforced with steel arches.
But it was towing a small schooner, the Olive Jeanette, which began to founder in the storm after the tow line apparently snapped, Baillod said. The Doty probably sank when it came to the schooner's aid. All 17 of its crew members died, along with the ship's cats, Dewey and Watson.
As a maritime historian Baillod spent more than 20 years researching the shipwreck. He knew that swaths of debris had washed up afterward in Kenosha, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. But he found news accounts that it had last been seen closer to Milwaukee, near Oak Creek.
Meanwhile, a Milwaukee fisherman in 1991 reported snagging his nets on an obstruction about 300 feet under water. The observation was largely forgotten for decades until diving technology improved enough to enable exploration at that depth.
A number of explorers did some preliminary scouting on the lake's surface in recent months, using deep-sea technology to find a massive submerged object. Divers waited until last week to descend, when the weather was just right.
As soon as they got to the lake floor they knew they had found the Doty.
"It felt so good to solve this," said Jitka Hanakova, 33, a diver and captain of the charter boat that led the exploration. "This ship has been missing for so many years and it's one of the biggest out there."
Divers found the ship upright and intact, settled into the clay at the lake's bottom. Even the ship's cargo of corn was still in its hold.
The Doty is so well-preserved because it's in a cold, freshwater lake. It's also far enough below the surface that storms don't affect it.
Those same factors mean the crew's corpses are likely intact as well, Baillod said. Their bodies are probably still in the boiler room, where the sailors must have huddled as the ship went down, he added.
While details of the sinking remain unclear, Baillod said the most likely explanation is that rudder chain snapped while the Doty was turning around to aid the Olive Jeanette. That would have left the 20-foot-tall ship at the mercy of 30-foot waves that would have dumped tons of water on the fragile wooden hatches.
"When the rudder broke (the crew) must have known they were going to die," Baillod said. "They probably had a good hour to contemplate their fate until the cargo holds collapsed."
There are no plans to raise the Doty, which is now the property of the state of Wisconsin. The ship will remain preserved indefinitely where it is, rather than exposing it to air that would cause it to rot away within a few years, Baillod said.
Few divers are expected to disturb it. It's in such deep water that only a small group of highly experienced divers can access it, Hanakova said.
Thousands of ships remain submerged in the Great Lakes, some vessels scuttled and others the victims of shipwrecks. Lake Michigan has about 500 dive-worthy ships still to be found, Baillod estimated.
He said his next target is the largest known missing ship: the car ferry Pere Marquette 18. He said it went down in 1910, about 20 miles from the southeastern Wisconsin shore.
The new technology that made finding the Doty possible can also help locate the Pere Marquette, he said.
"What's nice about finding these ships is, it contributes to our cultural history," he said. "Many people are disconnected from history so it's nice to reconnect to our past — to maybe look out today and think of the wooden steamships that were out there 100 years ago.
Courtesy of http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_re_us/us_shipwreck_discovered_wis_5

ND Site Might be Historic Find
Stanton, N.D. — Researchers say they have found what might be the only pottery firing pit ever discovered along the Missouri River.
Tests must confirm what archaeologists suspect after investigating the remains of a 500-year-old fire pit that was revealed by flooding on the Knife River last year. The Knife is a tributary of the Missouri.
Archaeologists and students from the University of North Dakota and the Midwest Archaeological Center in Nebraska who looked into the site say that rather than a simple ancient fire hearth, the blackened layer could be where women dug out an area to build a hot fire to be used to harden pottery.
‘‘It’s an awesome find,’’ said Brian McCutchen, superintendent of Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, where the river is digging into an old earth lodge village site identified in previous archaeological digs.
Further analysis will be done on the pottery and fire remains to see if the researchers’ theory is correct, said Kacy Hollenback, a doctoral degree student from the University of Arizona studying at the site.
Confirmation of a firing pit would be significant, said Jay Sturdevant, National Park Service archaeologist at the Midwest Archaeological Center.
‘‘It would be one of the only instances of prehistoric pottery manufacturing in the Northern Plains,’’ he said.
Courtesy of http://www.crookstontimes.com/news/x1143333832/ND-archaeological-site-might-be-historic-find

Crew Searches for Signs of Relics at Old Mining Town
LITTLE BELT MOUNTAINS , MT— The “gold mine” was an outhouse hole filled in with garbage.
The treasures were more than 100-years-old — large pieces of broken brown liquor bottles, the delicate leather sole of a shoe, a .45-caliber cartridge casing and a sardine can, some of its lettering still legible.
Perhaps the most amazing treasure for Jono Mogstad and his crew of student archaeologists digging at this old placer mining site in the Little Belt Mountains was a small pewter lid embellished with delicate floral designs. It may be the top of a cream container for a tea set. Maybe it was owned by Millie Ringgold, a freed black slave who settled at the town site during an 1879 gold rush.
“My area of interest in school and history is in gender studies and ethnic minorities, which makes Millie a perfect candidate for study,” said Mogstad, 32, a University of Montana student from Geraldine leading the dig as part of his master’s thesis. “She was the last living resident of this town.”
Skunk Gulch
Old Yogo Town is deep in the Little Belt Mountains, due west of Utica, along Yogo Creek. This is the country that a young Charles Marion Russell became fond of when he first came to Montana. Russell, who later gained fame as a Western artist, even used Ringgold as one of the characters in his painting “Quiet Day in Utica.” The artwork portrays a crowd watching a cowboy riding a bucking bronc on the town’s main street.
Russell’s mentor, Jake Hoover, may have been the first man to find gold in Yogo Creek, which ignited the rush in 1878. Purchasing a wagon and mules, Ringgold left for the mountainous area from Fort Benton to seek her riches a year later. She had arrived in Fort Benton, along the Missouri River, after traveling upstream on a steamboat while working for a U.S. Army officer.
In Old Yogo Town, Ringgold established a boarding house, restaurant and bar while also filing her own mining claims and searching for gold. One old photograph shows a heavyset woman in a striped skirt, worn jacket and crumpled wide-brimmed hat. Leaning against a fence she stands in front of a collection of four connected log structures — possibly her restaurant, bar and boarding house.
All that’s left on the hillside above Yogo Creek are depressions in the earth where the miners dug out level ground for their cabins, all grouped closely together. Mogstad has found the footprints of 30 structures. Ranchers long ago carted off the boom town’s buildings, putting the lumber to use for fences and outbuildings. A brown sign that features Russell’s bison skull trademark is the only marker of the site.
Registering history
With his two-week dig Mogstad is hoping to preserve the area for future study, and add to what is known of the town and its residents.
“The research that’s going on here will help us evaluate the site for the national historic register,” said Sandi French, archaeologist for the Lewis and Clark National Forest and overseer of the work. The town site is located on forest property between Skunk and Bear gulches. Funding for the dig is shared by the Forest Service and the University of Montana.
“This team is looking at details, the social makeup, division of labor, things that don’t show up otherwise,” French said. “It’s a neat single-episode placer mining town that was never reworked, so we can sort out the archaeological record here.”
For Mogstad, one of the main goals is documenting Ringgold’s cabin site. Because she lived at the site until she died in 1906, it should have the most artifacts.
“As people left, she bought abandoned claims,” Mogstad said. “She named them after U.S. presidents.”
Ideally, he’d like to find anything gender-specific — a bobby pin, garter belt clip or anything that says a woman lived there.
Young labor
Six students paid to work the dig, doing much of the difficult physical labor of scraping dirt out of the holes one bucket at a time with trowels, mapping any finds for reference, then sifting the dirt through a screen in search of any small artifacts. Mogstad and two other UM teaching assistants are guiding the work.
Spencer Propp, 19, of Billings, happily paid for the three-week course — two weeks of digging onsite while tent-camping in the mountains, one week of cleaning and cataloging the finds at the university.
“I’m getting four credits in only three weeks; that’s a pretty good deal,” he said.
Propp said history has always fascinated him and he wanted to do something active, so archaeology is appealing.
“It’s just a blast,” said Theodore Charles, 20, of Bellingham, Wash., another student. “We get to learn the history of an area. It’s a sneak peak at the people who lived here. And we’re preserving the area for generations to come.”
Like most miners, Millie Ringgold never did strike it rich, despite her persistence. Yogo sapphires were later found and mined downstream, bringing in more money than the placer gold strike ever accumulated. Cascade County officials carted Ringgold off to the poor house near the end of her life. But she returned to her home, where she died in 1906. Ringgold is buried in the Utica cemetery, but at her old homestead pieces of her past are being resurrected.
Courtesy of http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_11d16064-8259-11df-9b52-001cc4c002e0.html

Precious Gems and Relics Unearthed by Frazee Treasure Hunter
FRAZEE, MN - A few feet below the surface in the yards of Frazee and Vergas are relics, historical artifacts and money. Frazee treasure hunter Terry Shannon has plenty of proof.
He's found countless coins, including a rare 2-cent piece from 1867 and a 3-cent piece from 1865. He's also found dog licenses, some dating back to 1888; a statue of Jesus next to a coin dated 1875 where the Swift turkey plant once stood and, perhaps the most interesting Frazee find, two watch fobs.
The two pieces, which appear to be made of bronze or copper, were found in Fred Daggett's yard, Terry noted. One of the fobs has an engraved head of President William H. Taft. The second fob had the 27th president's name.
Terry's detective ways are not much of a stretch from his career as a law enforcement officer.
He served as the Becker County Sheriff and eventually resigned to buy a fishing resort in Canada.
"After seven years of that I retired and moved back to the area," he said. "Then I took a job as the chief of police in Perham and worked there for seven years before I retired again."
Terry decided he needed something productive to do with his time.
"I found the idea of metal detecting interesting," he said. "When I saw one for sale at Ketter's (Meats) I bought it."
The treasure hunting fever quickly took hold after he found an 1800 Indian head penny.
"I called my wife Jean to tell her, but she didn't get too excited," Terry recalled. "I couldn't understand it."
While others were leery his new hobby would produce any notable finds, Terry purchased a top-of-the-line detector that had a better sensor and defined the type of metal hidden in the ground.
"Then we headed to Florida," he said with a grin. "That's where things really got interesting."
Treasure row reveals much booty
By fortune and good luck Terry and his wife Jean landed on treasure row while searching for a vacation spot in Florida.
"I was going to Japan to visit our son, but Terry was going to stay in Florida," Jean said. "We tried to find a camper to rent, but, because of the two hurricanes in 2005, most places were full."
Luckily the two had connections. They spoke with Delta and Karen Daggett who told them there was a recent vacancy at Melbourne Beach, which is also known as treasure row because a fleet of 11 Spanish ships sank off the coast in 1715.
"There is an average salvage of $40 million per ship," Terry said. "One of the crashes is about 600 feet out from where our camper is located."
He has recovered some of the artifacts from the Spanish fleet, and donated some to the McLarty Treasure Museum in Sebastian, Fla.
However, Terry keeps his most prized possession around his neck.
He found a coin dated 1701, which is the only known coin of that year in existence.
Other notable finds include a 1655 coin authenticated to have been on the infamous Captain Henry Morgan's ship.
"I've also found a bracelet encased in coral that is from the 1700s," he said, noting he saved it from the coral by soaking it in olive oil.
Jean reported one of the more interesting things her husband found was a Hindu prayer box with the deity Ganesha on the front.
Ganesha is widely revered by Hindus as the remover of obstacles and the lord of beginnings, according to Wikipedia.
"On the bottom there was a mantra," Jean said. "We had it transcribed and it was a prayer."
Jean also noted there were five beads in the box, each representing a different aspect of good health.
"One was for the heart, one the liver...," she continued. "From what I understand the Hindu priest blessed the beads and gave them to people."
Terry has also found numerous rings with diamonds and other precious stones, however not all are genuine.
"I found a half carat diamond one day," he said.
"You could've knocked us both over with a feather," Jean added.
"I brought it home and we tested it and found out it was a fake," Terry continued. "The diamond tester we bought is really worth its weight in gold."
Finder's keepers with some softhearted exceptions
While almost all the loot Terry finds he legally has claim to, there are times he does what he can to return the item to its original owner.
"Having a conscience sucks," he joked. "I found a white gold 2000 class ring from Lake Park-Audubon in the Otter Tail River where the kids go tubing. On the inside of the ring was a name, so I grabbed the phone book and contacted the kid's grandma who said he lost the ring five years ago."
Terry learned the boy's mom purchased the ring and had him put his name on it in case he lost it.
"Smart lady," Terry noted.
Jean also recalled a time her husband possibly saved a marriage.
"We were in Florida and a lady came running to him asking for help," Jean said. "She'd bent down to rinse her hand and lost her wedding ring. She was crying and said her husband warned her not to wear it in the water."
Terry recalled it took him a matter of minutes to locate the missing ring and engagement band, which also had slipped off her finger.
"She said it probably saved her marriage," Jean added.
Locally, Terry's search and rescue services have been called upon after rings and other treasured items fell into area lakes.
"I have a water detector too, so most of the stuff I'm able to find," he said.
Intervention averted with cache of rings
On average Terry spends six hours a day hunting for treasure.
"In the past six months he's missed one day," Jean noted. "He goes so much the ladies in the mobile park (in Florida) talked about having an intervention. But that day he came home with some beautiful rings, so instead of an intervention the ladies decided to put in ring orders."
Jean added after Terry started coming home with valuable items she decided to encourage that he "Go for the gold."
"That day he came home with gold teeth (also referred to as a grill)," she said. "So now I tell him to go for the gold with diamonds in it."
"When I started this hobby six years ago I had no idea how much old and new stuff that I'd find," he said.
Terry is always open to searching new ground and interested parties should contact him at 334-2811.
While Terry spends much time searching beaches, Jean logs hours walking in the sand.
"I kept track and logged 530 miles in the winter season two years ago," she said. "This last winter it was only 350 miles because the weather wasn't so good."
Courtesy of http://www.frazeeforum.com/main.asp?SectionID=21&SubSectionID=61&ArticleID=23286

Signs of Schuylkill's Past
PENNSYLVANIA - Some residents of Schuylkill County's first county seat are known for reminding folks that the borough has a long history. This week, they celebrated a man dedicated to tracing the county's population back to its beginnings.
"Pennsylvania's First Americans: The Schuylkill County Story," an exhibit of local American Indian artifacts, opened Sunday at the Orwigsburg Historical Society.
A reception was held for the opening and to honor county historian and archaeologist Francis J. Burke, who donated hundreds of well-preserved artifacts from his personal collection.
Also honored were members of the Rutter family, who dedicated the Jay Rutter Memorial, providing cases and signs for the exhibit.
Museum-quality glass cases house the artifacts that date back to 10,000 B.C. - a period known as the Paleo-Indian period in the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology's jargon.
State Sen. David Argall, R-29, who has been instrumental in helping the Orwigsburg Historical Society's efforts, called the collection "a tremendous resource."
Orwigsburg Historical Society President Jennifer Bowen called the collection "unique" and "very rare."
"Something like this is just priceless," she said. "This is something for the whole county."
Burke collected nearly every artifact in Schuylkill County, usually by himself.
"He has an uncanny knack for being able to survey a site and know if there will be something to be found there," Bowen said.
Burke told about 60 guests assembled that his love of archaeology began in 1955 while he was still in high school in Minersville.
"At that time, people - even teachers - had the opinion that no (American Indians) ever lived here," Burke said. "I wasn't convinced, and that very summer I found a spear point near Seltzer. I found more items and became more interested, and well, here we are."
Burke went on to a career as a teacher, historian and archaeologist who has worked with the Pennsylvania State University and Temple University and is affiliated with the William Penn Museum and the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology.
Visitors to the new installation can also buy copies of Burke's book, "Schuylkill County's Buried Past," as well as see a recreation of one of Burke's most famous finds, a sandstone petroglyph discovered in 1971 and thought to represent a Lenape god, Mesingw. The original is currently housed in the State Museum of Pennsylvania.
If you go:
What: Pennsylvania's First Americans: The Schuylkill County Story
Where: Orwigsburg Historical Society, 109 E. Mifflin St., Orwigsburg
Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
Admission: Free for members, $1 for nonmembers
Courtesy of http://republicanherald.com/news/signs-of-schuylkill-s-past-1.867856

Rock Found in Portage at Least 300 million-years-old
OHIO - A Ravenna Township boy recently found a piece of this area’s history that goes back millions of years.
A few weeks ago Brody Hebb, 6, was out looking for arrowheads. Brody, who wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up, was walking in a recently plowed field in northern Portage County with his father, John Hebb, and a family friend.
Instead of an arrowhead, Brody found an unusual rock, which he showed his father and his father’s friend. At first glance, they thought it looked like the knob of a thighbone. But John Hebb said he thought it “looked like it had lizard skin or something” on it. The gray, rounded surface was covered with small angular segments. The interior of the rock looked like porous bone.
All agreed it was a most unusual rock. Hebb’s friend knew someone who works as a geologist, so she took the rock and had it analyzed.
It turns out the rock is actually a piece of agatized coral fossil dated to be 300 million to 400 million years old. It was formed when what is now North America was covered by shallow, warm seas during the Paleozoic Era.
The rock has been identified as an example of Favosites (or Hexagonia), a colonial coral made up of invertebrate animals. Many species of Favosites were called knee cap or elbow corals because they resembled joint bones.
Brody is hanging on to his find and continues to keep his eye out for arrowheads.
Brody’s mom, Miranda Hebb, said she thought her son’s discovery might influence other kids “to get outdoors and explore” this summer, rather than sit at home playing video games.
Courtesy of http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4850710

 

Calendar of Events

JULY
10th – 17th – New Staunton, Pennsylvania. Treasure Week at the Fox Den Acres Campground. Three hunts a day with many other hunts and activities. For more info, contact Jill & Carl McFeeders, jcseeker@core.com or phone (330) 364-1608.

17th – 18th – North Conway, New Hampshire. The Saco Valley Gem and Mineral Club Show at the North Conway Community Center. Gem and mineral dealers, micromounters, silent auction and raffle. Free admission.

24th – 25th – Nekoosa, Wisconsin. MidState Metal Detector Club’s 14th Annual Open Hunt and State Championship at the Deer Trails Park Campground (please note the hunt location has changed). Contact Steven Miller, N3091 CTY RD B, Hancock, WI 54943, or e-mail stmill@uniontel.net

26th – August 1st – Vallonia, Indiana. Southern Indiana Treasure Fest 2010 sponsored by Pepsi-Cola at the Starve Hollow State Recreation Area south of Brownstown on HW 135. Jackson County Fair all week. Events for all ages every day! Free Kids Hunts ages 3-12, and Jr. Hunts ages 13-15 for $10. The week’s events sponsored and/or provided by Bounty Hunter, Fisher Labs, Garrett Metal Detectors, The Lincoln Hills Treasure Hunters Club, White’s Electronics, The Hoosier Hills Treasure Hunter’s Club, Real Treasure Hunters, Teknetics, Cannonball Express Metal Detectors, Wick’s Pies, Wray & Co. Treasure Shop, Tesoro, and The Down n’ Dirty Diggers. For more info, contact Chad Beesley at (812) 966-2137 or Terry Rittenhouse at (765) 857-2400.

AUGUST
7th – Orting, Washington. The Puget Sound Treasure Hunters Club, Tacoma, Washington, is sponsoring their annual Lenny Phay Memorial Hunt, “Silver Bonanza,” rain or shine. Two major silver hunts, one a silver dime hunt and the other a big silver hunt, plus a detector and a treasure chest raffle. Fun for the entire family, to include youth hunts. For more info, contact Jim Ratcliff, Sr. at (360) 556-3914 or Jim Ratcliff, Jr. at (360) 556-4009, e-mail scouthobby@comcast.net or visit http://sites.google.com/site/pugetsoundtreasurehunters/home

7th – 8th – Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 28th Annual Black Diamond Treasure Weekend sponsored by the Black Diamond Treasure Hunters Club at the Plymouth TWP. Recreation Field on Route 11. For information, send self-addressed stamped envelope to B.D.T.H.C., P.O. Box 1523, Kingston, PA 18704, or go to www.bdthc.org to download the flier. Send e-mail requests to treasure1@aol.com or phone Byard Derr (215) 536-0796, George Walko (570) 287-3602 or Ron Denman (570) 288-7787.

21st – Cisco, Texas. The Gray Ghost Nite Hunt at full dark, the best, most exciting hunt this year. Not just silver dimes, but collectible coins of all kinds. Test your skills. No lights of any kind for the first 30 minutes. No digging tools needed; coins will not be buried. Penlights and small headlamps are allowed after first half hour. The location is on private property and will be revealed at the time of the hunt. Assembly point is at the Lela Lloyd Museum, 116 W. 7th. Entries limited to 35. Entry fee: $35. Deadline for registry is July 21. Call Jerry Eckhart at (254) 631-6809 for entry form, write 704 Avenue I, Cisco, TX 76437, or e-mail jmeckhart@sbcglobal.net

28th – 29th – Concord, New Hampshire. The Capital Mineral Club’s Gem, Mineral & Jewelry Festival at the Everett Arena, 15 Loudon Road (1,500 feet east of Exit 14, I-93). Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission $5, children under 12 free with an adult. Dealers, displays, raffles and hourly and grand show prizes. For more info, log onto www.capitalmineralclub.org

SEPTEMBER
4th – 5th – Foresthill, California. Annual Foresthill Heritage Celebration, California State Gold Panning and Lumberjack Championships, and U.S. National Gold Panning Championships at the Old Foresthill Memorial Park. American Legion Post 587 Annual Pig Roast, music, family events, gold panning, food and craft vendors. Heritage 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, Championships Saturday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call (530) 367-2891 or log onto www.goldhounds.com

10th – 12th – Derby, New York. The 25th Annual International Treasure Hunt at Wendt Beach Park on Old Lake Shore Road, 5 miles off Exit 57A on New York I-90. Rain or shine, silver and gold hunts. Registration both days from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Free camping available, no hook-ups or dump station. For information, call Joe, (716) 632-6129 or Louie, (716) 434-3712, write 5327 Ernest Road, Lockport, NY 14094, or log onto NFRHA.com

11th – Milan, Michigan. Michigan Treasure Hunters’ 37th Annual Open Hunt at the KC Campground. For more information, contact Vincent Tremain, 15552 Stonehouse Circle, Livonia, MI 48154, or visit www.michigantreasurehunters.com

11th – 12th – Boonville, Indiana. Lincoln Hills Treasure Club’s 4th Annual Treasure Hunt at Scales Lake Park on the sandy beach, sponsored by Robert Jackson. Entry fees put in the hunt as silver dimes. Prize donations welcome. Free Kids’ Hunt, Teens’ Hunt $10. For more info, contact Robert Jackson at (812) 925-3280 or (812) 305-0295.

18th – Knox, New York. 40th Annual Club Hunt with over $5,000 in prizes, sponsored by the Empire State Metal Detector Association, at the Knox Firemen’s Park. For info and registration form, go to www.esmda.org. For more info, contact Bob Lavoy at metal@nycap.rr.com or call (518) 356-0564.

19th – Lathrop, Missouri. 34th Annual Open Hunt sponsored by Mo-Kan Search and Recovery Club at the Lathrop Antique Show Grounds. For more info e-mail Terry Theiss at outboundace@hotmail.com, call Chuck Clevenger at (816) 436-0697, or visit the
club website at www.mokansr.com

25th – Pearblossom, California. 1st Annual Outpost Shootout co-sponsored by A.V.T.H.S. & the Outpost at 34141 116th St. E. The shootout is a day-long event, 9 a.m. –5 p.m., for those in the metal detecting hobby, veteran and newbies, and anyone interested in learning more about detecting & treasure hunting. There will be displays of metal detected treasures & information on detectors. Demonstrations will be given. Featured events of the day are planted coin & token hunts-some require a fee to enter. In addition, The Outpost and other sponsors will add more coins and prizes to the hunts. For more info, contact Scott Sandahl at sandahlfamily3@sbcglobal.net

25th – 26th – Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The Tri-State Metal Detecting Club will host its Annual two-day hunt loaded with silver coins, unique hunts, prizes, raffles, and lots of fun! For more info, contact Justin Stevens at (618) 201-1853 or by e-mail at tds62864@hotmail.com

26th – 27th – Java Center, New York. Genesee Valley Treasure Seekers, Inc.’s 10th Annual Hunt at the Beaver Meadows Campgrounds. Prizes include detectors, and gold and silver coins. Events benefit the American Cancer Society. For more information, call John Howard at (585) 663-7368.

OCTOBER
8th – 9th – Cullman, Alabama. 37th Annual Deep South Open Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the Warrior Basin Treasure Hunters Association and Garrett Metal Detectors, at Smith Lake Park. Prizes will include gold and silver coins, metal detectors, old coins, relics and tokens. Discount cutoff dates are 6/10 (up to 35% discount) and 9/30 (up to 15% discount). Sign up a new guest and save another 10%. Contacts: Joe Box: ulozifind@windstream.net, (205) 640-4116, Cell (205) 451-7693; Eddie Bradley: eddieb@wbtha.com; Lawrence McKelvey: lmckelvey@charter.net
Get all the details at http://wbtha.com/HuntPages/DSTH/DSTH2010/dsth.html

10th – Belmar Beach, New Jersey. 23rd Annual Open Beach Hunt sponsored by the Deep Search Metal Detecting Club. For more information, visit www.DSMDC.org or contact John Helders at (732) 572-1367 or e-mail Russell at marketmanruss@aol.com for a registration form.

16th – Irving, Texas. The Lone Star Treasure Hunters Club will host its 36th Annual Open Hunt at the Mountain Creek Preserve from 8:30 – 4:30. Six hunts with lots of prizes, a cake auction, and a raffle. Headphones required. For more information, log onto http://www.lonestartreasure.com/LSTHOH201036th.pdf or contact Huntmaster Robert Jordan, 1705 Pecan View, Garland, TX, 75040, (972) 530-5832, e-mail bobby.jordan@tx.rr.com

16th – Aiken, South Carolina. The 1st CSRA Metal Detecting Annual Hunt, 10 a.m. Location will be announced by e-mail to all who register. Several nice prizes, including gold and silver coins and a metal detector. Come join the fun. Lunch will be provided. Visit
www.csrametaldetecting.webs.com for more info. Registration fee is $60 before Sept. 15th,
$75 after. Call Joey or Kandi for more info at (803) 640-0755.

30th – 31st – Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Open Hunt 2010 sponsored by the Lancaster Research & Recovery Club, in partnership with the Susquehanna Valley Metal Detecting Club, at the Lancaster County Central Park’s Environmental Center. Registration starts at 8 a.m. each day. All silver hunts - one each morning and afternoon, rain or shine. There will be a Kids Hunt (up to age 12), a Free Fun Hunt, and an Optional Gold Hunt. Questions? Call Mike or Sue Race at (717) 355-0691, or e-mail msrace@hydrosoft.net

E-mail upcoming events to managingeditor@losttreasure.com
 

Tip From the Pros

By Norm Stiles

Hello Good People! 

I have used a metal detector most every day since the 1950's, and even repaired and sold metal detectors from 1960's to 1974, when I retired at 37 from the "metal detector business" and went to work in my knife sharpening business full time, plus a few other outside jobs, so I could treasure find full time, most every day.  

A tip that a lot of "finders" might try is to metal detect barefoot, as over the years I find that I always get better/deeper signals when I have taken off my shoes and my socks!  

I can use any detector, but I mostly use only lightweight detectors under three pounds and always have, which are the bottom of the line and under $200…Bounty Hunter, Tesoro, and Garrett. They just work best, in my opinion, as I recover half dimes, 2-cent pieces, 3-cent U.S. Coins, and silver and gold rings, etc.

Contrary to what most of the so-called experts say...what metal detector you use has nothing to do withyour findings. Simply stated...the person that digs the most finds the most! The older the spot, the older the coins…end of story! It has been proven again and again over my hundreds of thousands of hours of using metal detectors.  

As my books/booklets state, “Since 1973, at 72, I have never had tired/sore body parts! To be successful, you must never lay your detector down while “finding,” and you never turn it off…period. Never go down on your knees. Teach yourself to hunt with either hand and also to dig with either hand and you will win a lot of treasure hunts, as I have, besides finding more treasure than your buddies.

Favorite Finds

Minelab Strikes Gold in Chicago!

Minelab USA is in Downers Grove (Chicago area), IL’s newest business member! The world famous metal detection technologies company, known for its exclusive premier level gold detecting machines and coin, relic, and treasure detectors, has moved its headquarters to Downers Grove, IL. With record sales and a business plan for focused business growth, Minelab has chosen to more centrally locate their Minelab USA headquarters. The Chicago area is the perfect central location to further expand and support its operations . Minelab USA Vice President Gary Schafer states, “We are excited about the opportunity to better serve our North and South American markets with a more centrally located sales and service center. While we are maintaining a sales office in Las Vegas our new Minelab America’s headquarters features a Customer Care Center and product distribution point. We are now officially opened in Downers Grove, IL – a western suburb of Chicago.”
A state of the art demo room, a full service repair workshop and Minelab trained and certified technicians will ensure customers receive excellent service and are delighted to be a part of the Minelab community.
Since its origins in 1985, Minelab has been the world leader in providing the best metal detection technologies for customers, including the land mine detection needs of humanitarian and military organizations. With offices in Australia, Ireland, and the United States, Minelab’s employees seek to always understand the diverse customer requirements and to apply its technologies to meet the customers’ needs. Minelab has a worldwide vision to provide first class products, services, and customer care while increasing interest and knowledge in the field of metal detection. Chicago, with its diverse population and work force is the perfect location to continue this world-wide vision of growth.
Minelab will continue to operate in Las Vegas with a new sales office located at 3752 Howard Hughes Drive, Suite 200 Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas office is a crucial part of Minelab’s business, being located in the middle of United States’ gold country! Its sales and marketing staff are there to help the west coast business partners and support Chicago’s customer service operations. Minelab is also opening a new training and demo center in the Prescott Valley area of Arizona. This center will be focused on enhancing our resellers’ education programs as well as delivering regular detection outings to our end-Customers.
The official grand opening for the new Minelab USA headquarters in Downers Grove, IL will be on August 12, 2010.
About Minelab
Minelab Electronics (the parent of Minelab USA) was acquired by Newton-based global communications products specialist, Codan Limited (ASX: “CDA”), in March 2008. Like its parent company, Minelab is an Australian-built, multi-award winning business that has successfully scaled world markets to command global leadership in its key areas of operation.
Based in Torrensville, South Australia with sales, support and distribution offices in Ireland and the United States, the Company specializes in advanced electronic technologies. Since its origins in 1985 Minelab has been the world leader in providing metal detecting technologies for consumer, humanitarian demining and military needs. Through devotion to research and development and innovative design, Minelab is today a major world manufacturer of hand held metal detector products. Over the past 20 years, Minelab has introduced more innovative and practical technology than any of its competitors and has taken the metal detecting industry to new levels of excellence.

Letters to the Editor

Definition of Significant

Significant means that an object, or site must be able to produce physical scientific evidence of man's past that has NOT already been recorded, is NOT commonly found, is UNIQUE in the field of archaeology.

Federal register 1984 Vol.49 No.4 page 1026
"This legislation does not affect the use of metal detectors on public lands, if it is legal to use metal detectors currently, this act does not diminish that use".

16USC. 470BB states the resource must be at least 100 years of age and have SIGNIFICANT interest. In 1984 some of ARPA laws were rewritten " because of public response and comments" in hearings, it was stated that some archaeologists were closing lands to preserve and protect their Positions only. As a result in vol.49 no.4 of 1215.1 "wording was changed slightly to state more clearly and directly that NO NEW Restrictions of authorized use of public lands are created by these regulations.

16USC.470ff (b-3 USC record, page 1711)
States public land managers should apply regulations "ONLY TO ESTABLISHED SITES". Congress was also extremely concerned that the term "site" could be abused and construed to mean every inch of public land simply because something might be found there some day.

Historical Protection Act of 1983, page 575 470kk, saving provisions. Nothing in this chapter applies to or requires a permit for the collection for private purposes of any coin, rock, bullet or unworked mineral.

Archaeological Resource Protection Act
Page 150 16USC 470kk(a) section 12
Nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal, modify, or impose additional restrictions on the activities permitted under existing laws and authorities relating to mining, mineral leasing, reclamation, and other multiple uses of public lands.

State Historic Preservation Office (all states)
A posting created by the National Historic Preservation Act (5) under the authority of the National Historic Preservation Act, section 101 (6)

What all of this means is that the preservation office is funded and mandated by federal law, every state and every agency in that state is supposed to following federal laws.
Any sub agency (example) state parks, that applies new restrictions is NOT following state or federal laws.

http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/06/12/1271725/treasure-hunting-on-hilton-head.html

Thank you very much,
Keith Wills
If you care about the future of our hobby,  check out www.wwats.org

Good Hunting!

Treasure Hunters Help Grow Our Hobby With Future Detectorists

This year’s annual visit to the Texas Lions Camp for Handicap Children June 8th-10th was our 14th year of working with the wonderful and excited campers and their counselors, as always, and so many smiling faces of happy children with a handful of foreign coins there was. We saw over 130 kids this year and, like every year, were able to teach them the joys of treasure hunting with new metal detectors that Garrett Metal Detectors donated to the Camp three years ago. See below for pictures.

After our visit, the counselors took over teaching the many new campers that come during the summer. Some 2,000 campers are expected this summer and it is an activity that the campers look forward to. Remember, many of these counselors are foreign students and they take what they have learned home with them to other parts of the world, so there is no end to who may benefit from our annual visits to the Camp.

This was a program that Nolan Underwood (Camp Activity Director, now deceased), I and the Texas Council of Treasure Clubs started 14 years ago and it would not be possible without all of the clubs that support this effort by donating foreign coins they find or purchase, and taking time out each year to visit the Camp and work with the many children there - we never forget that! Behind the scenes with very little praise are those that take that time each year to travel and be there to help with our annual visits; you know who you are. It costs them in many ways, but one look at the big smiles on kids’ faces and it is all worth it. These folks should be announced before their clubs for their efforts.

Has it dawned on each of you that visit that the Camp does in fact make a difference in so many of these children's lives? The letters I receive describe it best, like this sample:

++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. Wills,

Your time you took to work with my daughter and teach her to metal detect for coins has changed her life. We had to buy her a detector and she started hunting our yard from her wheelchair right away; now we take her to the park several times a week so she can use that detector there, too. She has even started knocking on doors in the neighborhood to gain permission to hunt other neighbor's yards as well.

Before your visit to the camp this summer, she only sat in front of her computer at home and would not go outside. My husband and I give thanks to you and yours every day.

God Bless you everyone,

The Tates

++++++++++++++++++++

Words are not enough, but thank you everyone and please remember to save those foreign coins for the kids - it is the ONLY way the program will continue for these campers.

Sincerely,

Keith Wills

P.S. If you wish to donate foreign coins to this activity for the kids, here is my address to ship it to: Keith Wills, 1495 FM 49, Gilmer, TX 75644

A sincere thank you for your dedication to help others, especially the children, our future detectorists! 

Industry Press

Minelab Strikes Gold in Chicago!

Minelab USA is in Downers Grove (Chicago area), IL’s newest business member! The world famous metal detection technologies company, known for its exclusive premier level gold detecting machines and coin, relic, and treasure detectors, has moved its headquarters to Downers Grove, IL. With record sales and a business plan for focused business growth, Minelab has chosen to more centrally locate their Minelab USA headquarters. The Chicago area is the perfect central location to further expand and support its operations . Minelab USA Vice President Gary Schafer states, “We are excited about the opportunity to better serve our North and South American markets with a more centrally located sales and service center. While we are maintaining a sales office in Las Vegas our new Minelab America’s headquarters features a Customer Care Center and product distribution point. We are now officially opened in Downers Grove, IL – a western suburb of Chicago.”
A state of the art demo room, a full service repair workshop and Minelab trained and certified technicians will ensure customers receive excellent service and are delighted to be a part of the Minelab community.
Since its origins in 1985, Minelab has been the world leader in providing the best metal detection technologies for customers, including the land mine detection needs of humanitarian and military organizations. With offices in Australia, Ireland, and the United States, Minelab’s employees seek to always understand the diverse customer requirements and to apply its technologies to meet the customers’ needs. Minelab has a worldwide vision to provide first class products, services, and customer care while increasing interest and knowledge in the field of metal detection. Chicago, with its diverse population and work force is the perfect location to continue this world-wide vision of growth.
Minelab will continue to operate in Las Vegas with a new sales office located at 3752 Howard Hughes Drive, Suite 200 Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas office is a crucial part of Minelab’s business, being located in the middle of United States’ gold country! Its sales and marketing staff are there to help the west coast business partners and support Chicago’s customer service operations. Minelab is also opening a new training and demo center in the Prescott Valley area of Arizona. This center will be focused on enhancing our resellers’ education programs as well as delivering regular detection outings to our end-Customers.
The official grand opening for the new Minelab USA headquarters in Downers Grove, IL will be on August 12, 2010.
About Minelab
Minelab Electronics (the parent of Minelab USA) was acquired by Newton-based global communications products specialist, Codan Limited (ASX: “CDA”), in March 2008. Like its parent company, Minelab is an Australian-built, multi-award winning business that has successfully scaled world markets to command global leadership in its key areas of operation.
Based in Torrensville, South Australia with sales, support and distribution offices in Ireland and the United States, the Company specializes in advanced electronic technologies. Since its origins in 1985 Minelab has been the world leader in providing metal detecting technologies for consumer, humanitarian demining and military needs. Through devotion to research and development and innovative design, Minelab is today a major world manufacturer of hand held metal detector products. Over the past 20 years, Minelab has introduced more innovative and practical technology than any of its competitors and has taken the metal detecting industry to new levels of excellence.